Ice Heart
by SnowJay4131
Summary: Ruri Sugimura gets caught in the adventure of a lifetime when she dies... and decides to become a soul reaper.


_Ruri sat on her roof like she always did, the cool summer wind blowing back her shoulder length brown hair. The black ribbon holding it in it's half up style fluttered majestically. It was a nice day, perfect for watching the gentle, white, puffy clouds. Ruri smiled, content. No weird visions, no distractions. Just, normalcy._

_A scream ripped through the air, shattering the illusion of peace surrounding the small house._

_Ruri froze, a cold chill going down her spine as she heard the horrific scream again. She told herself not to look down. Don't look at the street, there's nothing interesting to see. Don't look, don't look…_

_She looked. There, in the middle of the cold, now dark street, was a monster. It was a story tall and had a black, grotesque, humanoid body. Where it's face should be was a large white mask with red lines running down from the pitch black eye sockets._

_Brown hair came out of the back of the mask._

_Ruri could not move. She could not scream for her father or her brother. She could only stare at the creature as it screamed again, a horrible, earth-shattering scream that made Ruri feel ice crawl down her back._

_The monster approached, one hideous, clawed hand reaching out towards Ruri. She stood, but her legs would not move beyond that. Terror paralyzed her._

_The monster stopped beside the house. Its eyes boring into Ruri's soul. It reached up and pulled off its mask. Ruri stood, horrified, as the monster pulled back its free hand and then shot it forward towards Ruri's chest._

_Her only comfort as her death came nearer were the snowflakes, floating gently down…_

-BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP-

Ruri woke with a start, panting, covered in cold sweat. She looked around the room, her eyes finding the obnoxious alarm clock that saved her life. She got up and turned it off, wiping her tired eyes. She looked at the picture next to the clock, hesitating a moment before turning it around.

"RURI! HURRY UP OR YOU'RE GONNA BE LATE!"

Ruri jumped, startled by her dad's yell, loud even from a story below. "I'M COMING!"

She hurried to get into her new school uniform, grabbing her backpack and rushing downstairs, where her brother waited with a lunch box and a breakfast roll.

He smiled and ruffled her hair. "Good luck at your new school. You better have 10 friends before you come home today."

Ruri laughed, "Shut up Rai, you know how shy I normally am. Anyway, I better go. Bye!"

Her dad and brother yelled their farewells as she left, munching on her breakfast roll.

Ruri saw a two students walking together across the street, looking happy. One pushed the other playfully and they chased each other.

She considered going and saying hi, but then looked ahead and stopped. Standing there was a little girl, partially transparent, with a chain hanging from her chest.

Ruri walked up to her, kneeling a little to get at the girl's height. She looked lost and scared.

Ruri smiles softly. "Hi there. What's your name?"

The girl just looked at her, a bit confused. Ruri was used to this. She picked a flower from a bush and set it in a nearby vase.

She smiled at the girl. "I'll see you later, okay?" The girl nodded nervously, and Ruri continued her walk to school.

"Class 1A…. Where is that…" Ruri searched around, too shy to ask for help. As she glanced around the hall nervously, the redhead from before came up to her.

"Hey, you must be new here" she smiled. Ruri smiled back and nodded. "Are you looking for your class?"

"Yeah, where's 1A?" Ruri tilted her head a little, feeling extremely short.

The redhead's smile brightened. "You have the same class as me! I'm Sally Rosedale, follow me." She turned and headed down the hall with Ruri in tow. "What's your name?"

"R-Ruri Sugimura"

Sally smiled "That's a cool name"

"Th-thanks…"

They arrived at the classroom. Ruri was surprised at how many kids there were; it was twice as many as her old school! Sally took her arm and led her over to a group of a few other students. Most of the students were boys, and they were all taller than her. The only girl was closer to Ruri's height, but still taller. Her name was Lisa.

They all greeted Sally, and didn't seem to notice Ruri at first.

"Oh, this is the new girl, Ruri Sugimura" Sally smiled, then introduced Ruri to all her friends

They all greeted her. Two of them were giving her odd looks, making her uncomfortable. The quietest, tallest guy made Ruri feel small, and the middle boy… was friendly. Cute, too. His name was Cody.

The day dragged on, people asked Ruri questions, she gave answers, both liking and hating the attention. Ruri was slow to leave class; she hadn't anticipated the amount of homework she would have.

On her trek back home, Ruri tried to remember which street that girl was on. When she finally reached it she stopped, surprised. There was , talking to the girl. He was smiling, and ruffled her hair, causing her to giggle. Ruri was astonished. Someone other than her and her brother could see ghosts?

Cody didn't notice Ruri, and didn't even glance around before pulling out a pez dispenser and popping a spherical pill into his mouth.

Ruri gasped as Cody split into two people. The original Cody fell to the ground, lifeless, while the other, clothed in a black outfit and with a long katana strapped to his back, stood in front of the now scared-looking girl.

The black-clad Cody pulled out his sword and said something to the girl, then placed the end of the sword's hilt on her forehead. The girl glowed before she vanished.

Ruri stood there, completely stunned. Was this another vision? Is she insane after all? If she isn't… then what the hell just happened?

When Ruri's questions stopped reeling through her brain, she realized there was once again only one Cody; the normal high schooler with a school uniform.

He turned in Ruri's direction. She ducked behind a fence, heart pounding and head still rearing. She heard Cody walking, walking… away.

Ruri sighed with relief, the close call making her head hurt.

The rest of Ruri's walk home was normal. Sally was walking across the street just like that morning. Everything was normal.

A chill went down Ruri's back, the dream coming back to her like a tsunami crashing on the shore. Everything was normal then, too. Ruri told herself to stop being so paranoid as she glanced around frantically.

The rest of the day was exactly as you'd expect it to be. Homework, supper, more homework, read., bedtime. Of course Ruri couldn't sleep, not after last night.

She got up, read some more, finished the book, and found herself wandering to the roof of their small house. Ruri wondered if she had a death wish.

No snow. No clouds. The sky was clear as can be, and the stars shined with brilliant radiance. The starlight calmed Ruri's shaken nerves, and eventually she went back to bed and slept soundly.

The next morning was hectic. Ruri's alarm didn't go off, breakfast was burnt, and Ruri ended up running to school, falling, scraping her knee, and looking up to see Cody, standing far above her, clothed in black once more.

Beside him was Lisa, wearing the same outfit as Cody. Standing right in front of them, taller than a two story building, was a massive, hideous, black monster.

Ruri froze. That dream replayed itself. The monster looked just like the one from that night….

Cody pulled out his sword and attacked the monster, but it was fast, and he only managed to scratch its arm as it flung him away. Lisa's assault had the same effect, barely scraping the monster as it turned right at the girl, frozen on her back on the sidewalk.

Ruri was completely unable to move. It was the dream all over again, except real. There are two new players in this game of death, however.

Cody was back in moments, slicing at the creature's mask. Part of it broke. The monster slashed at Cody. Blood Splattered. Cody was thrown into a building. The monster approached Ruri, who was helpless and scared.

Ruri recognized that face. The twisted face behind the mask was none other than…

Lisa was back, saying something Ruri couldn't hear. The monster's hand thrust into Ruri's chest, heaving her up by… a-a chain?

The pulling sensation in Ruri's chest, in her whole soul, was unbearable. She screamed in excruciating agony, and Lisa hesitated. The long ribbon coming off of Lisa's sword reminded Ruri vaguely of her mother… she died so long ago…

'She's back now,' Ruri thought. 'and she's determined to kill me too.'

The monster screamed and turned back towards Cody, flinging Ruri painfully in the process. Ruri was sure her soul was being torn away by this chain connected to her chest.

Something black was coming from Cody's sword, slashing the monster that held Ruri captive. Just as Cody was about to fire another of those blasts, the monster held her in the way. Cody hesitated, swearing under his breath. Then he screamed something. Ruri couldn't tell what he said… Stop? No? Everything was fuzzy, the pain dulling Ruri's ability to tell what was happening.

Suddenly everything went cold. Then, it went black.

Cody suddenly ran at the monster, screaming. He couldn't believe he let that happen, that he froze when he should have… No, no time to dwell on it now. He had to stop the hollow from harming Ruri further.

He cut off the arm the hollow was using to hold Ruri captive. He caught her limp spirit, her damaged soul chain hanging from her chest, not connected to anything anymore.

The hollow froze, literally, and Lisa shattered the ice sculpture that remained.

She met up with Cody. "Is she hurt?"

"The chain has been badly damaged form the pulling and swinging. There are no other injuries, but…"

"She can't return to her body now"

Cody paused, looking at the blood covering Ruri's useless body. "How will we explain this?"

Lisa looked at the body too, sadly. "We'll have to let people think it was murder."

"We can't just leave her here!"

"We have to, Cody."

"But…"

"I'll let you know when she wakes up. You can tell the others if you want, I'll stay with her."

Cody looked defeated. He handed Ruri's unconscious soul to Rukia, and went to get back in his body for school.

Ruri woke gradually; everything was fuzzy and confusing. She glanced around, her chest aching dully. The room was small, and… there was someone else there.

Lisa sat nearby, reading manga as she waited for Ruri to wake up. She was still dressed in all black.

Ruri tried to sit up but couldn't. "Th-that wasn't a dream?"

Lisa looked up. "Oh, you're awake. Are you feeling okay?"

Ruri looked around "I'm fine… where am I?" Her chest hurt…

"You're in a room in the back of a store, where we've been waiting for you to recover."

"What store?"

"That's not important now. You're injured."

Ruri cringed as the pain in her chest got worse.

"It hurts, doesn't it."

"What are you talking about?"

"The chain, the one in your chest."

Ruri looked down for the first time since waking up. Right where it had been on all the other ghosts, was a chain protruding from her chest. It dangled there, and, when Ruri saw it, she almost passed out.

"I-I'm, I-I'm dead?"

Lisa looked down. It only took a few minutes for her to explain what had happened. Ruri listened in total shock, only able to wonder about what would happen now or what her brother and father would do.

"Wh-what's g-going to happen to me now?"

Lisa looked directly at her. "You're going to go to the soul society."


End file.
